Derrick White contract extension: Celtics' deal for reigning NBA champion falls $1 million short of eligible 4-year value

The Boston Celtics retained their championship-winning core after signing point guard Derrick White to an extension. The 29-year-old guard and the Celtics have reportedly agreed on a four-year extension worth $129.5 million, according to Adrian Wojnarowski.

This extension has a player option for the final year, which means White can opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent before the 2028–29 season.

White's contract extension fell around $1 million short of what he was eligible for, which was $127 million. However, according to Sportrac's estimate, this extension still carries a luxury tax of around 14%.

The luxury tax is a penalty imposed on teams when the total value of their contracts exceeds the salary cap. The cap for the 2024–25 season is set at $140.588 million.

Even before Derrick White's contract, the Celtics are already paying a combined $143,322,433 to their other four starters.

Jrue Holiday ($30,000,000) and Kristaps Porzingis ($29,268,293) are owed close to $60 million of that. Meanwhile, the superstar duo of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are owed more.

According to Sportrac, the Celtics are paying Brown $49,205,800 next season, while Tatum is at $34,848,340.

Tatum will also be eligible for a new contract soon. He has a player option for the 2025–26 season. Whether he opts in or not remains to be seen, but the Celtics will likely offer him a huge extension.

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Derrick White was Defensive Player of the Year candidate last season

As compared to Derrick White, Jrue Holiday probably gets more praise as the Boston Celtics' defensive stopper. After all, he averages 1.4 steals in his career and has been awarded first- and second-team All-Defensive six times (1st team in 2018, 2021 and 2023, and 2nd team in 2019, 2022 and 2024).

However, Derrick White is no slouch on defense. He has been a part of the second-team All-Defensive in each of the last two seasons and was also a candidate for the Defensive Player of the Year last season. White earned five points for this award, good for eighth in the DPOY voting.

Statistically, White had his best numbers in blocks per game in 2023–24 with an average of 1.2. He also tied his career-best steals per game average at 1.0.

Derrick White is an integral part of head coach Joe Mazzula's defensive schemes. While he was not the primary defender on Luka Doncic in the NBA Finals, his ability to make life difficult for other players was key to the Celtics' title run last season.